Aim. This article presents the pioneering work of Vital Roux, a French businessman and author who proposed, in the 1800s, a teaching method to train business people which closely resembles the experiential method central to today’s business games.
Background. This presentation indirectly discusses the fundamental issue of business games’ success as an educational innovation. We recall briefly that the roots of business games are distant, multiple, and far-ranging.
Method. The pedagogy advocated by Vital Roux is revealed and innovative aspects of his educational system are noted and discussed. Roux’s obscurity is underlined, and a plausible explanation for the relative failure of his project is proposed. A social and historical hypothesis is then suggested to explain the success which business games have won in the United States a century and a half later.
Conclusion.Roux’s key thoughts are summarized, suggesting he can appear as a forgotten forerunner of modern business games.
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